Sandstorms and Shadows
by SavageViper
Summary: A young Redgaurd woman, working in Cyrodiil as a mercenary, makes a difficult choice and now must flee to Skyrim.


Disclaimer. Elder Scrolls V Skyrim, is the property of Bethesda.

(Note) Currently this story is a One-Shot if enough people decide they like it, I'll definitely expand on it. If this story doesn't get much attention I may expand it anyway. This is intended as an M-rated story.

Chapter 1

Nianna was a Redgaurd woman, fairly tall and athletically built with shoulder length black hair cut in bob-style. Her eyes were a bright green color and her smooth skin was a dark tone, like milk-chocolate. Her bust was fairly large and her thighs were thick and muscular. Like many of her people she was a wandering sellsword, a mercenary and she had developed an athletic build as a result of her adventures. Presently she was traveling to Skyrim in search of her next adventure. She was still quite young being in her early twenties though she'd been a wandering adventurer since age 14 as she had been an orphan. Nianna would take whatever work that came her way, be it hunting down and executing bandits petty thievery or using her skill in stealth and earning a living as an assassin. Nianna did have a preference for the work of an assassin over bandit slaying, more often than not, bandits were easy marks. They were easily predictable, given to roaring out drunken insults before dashing headlong into a fight with little regard to their surroundings. Bandits were also cocky and that arrogance led to mistakes, mistakes that always turned out to be quite costly. Nianna loved a challenge, after she left her native homeland Hammerfell, she worked as an officially commissioned mercenary for a political power in Cyrodiil. First in the city of Chorrol, then in the city of Bruma. Those days had been quite enjoyable, she had lived in a luxurious townhouse in both cities enjoyed fine meals prepared by a personal servant. When called upon by her employers, she was given official license to track down and kill troublesome individuals upon eliminating her mark she was paid quite handsomely. Everything changed however when she was given a writ of execution against a 13 year old Nord boy, the boy in question was an orphan and guilty of nothing more than speaking his mind in distaste of the Emperor. Nords are always known for their fearlessness and pride and they had long revered Tiber Septim (Talos Stormcrown) and even worshipped him as a god alongside the 8 Divines. This boy was no different than any other Talos worshipping Nord, indeed he'd heard of the Empire's surrender to the High Elven lead Aldmeri Dominion. Nianna in fact did track him down, but upon catching him, realized she could not kill a child. Knowing that her actions would be viewed as treason, she told the boy to flee from Cyrodiil, giving him one of her own Dwarven daggers for protection. With one course of action left to her, Nianna fled from Cyrodiil herself, with the hopes of reaching Skyrim before she was found out. Returning to her home in Bruma she managed to slip past the city gaurds undetected under the cover of the nights darkness. Though she had been friends with many of the guard, she knew that they wouldn't hesitate to arrest her if they were under orders to do so. Slipping into her small villa, she retrieved her satchel and packed enough provisions for 4 days hard travel as well as 500 septims, every septim she had to her name. Grabbing a full quiver of 100 Dwarven arrows she belted the quiver on and strapped her most prized possession onto the belt as well, a Dwarven Bow she had named "Amber." Deciding that a desperate (some would say suicidal move as there had been numerous reports of avalanches in the mountains) was necessary to shake off any tracking parties the Count of Burma may have sent after her. Nianna Traveled the paths through Serpents Trail, and Pale Pass for 3 days, blessing the fates for keeping a favored eye on her incredibly risky travels. Finally she made it into Skyrim coming down from Arcwind Point she traveled onwards passing by the Ruins of Bthalft a few hours after Dusk. Besides her Dwarven Bow, Nianna also carried a Dwarven dagger as well as a pair of steel scimitars the iconic curved swords Hammerfell Blacksmiths were famous for. Nianna preferred heavy armor, but knew the wisdom of wearing light armor and staying sharp was the best way to survive lengthy trips. With this in mind Nianna wore only a sleeveless leather tunic and mathching leather boots and bracers all insulated from the cold mountain air with thick black fur. Fully aware that it would only continue to grow increasingly cold the closer to Skyrim she traveled. Choosing a spot among the dense brush in a small clearing with a stream of fresh water nearby to set up camp for the night. Knowing that keeping out of sight was key, and if her memory was correct a village called Ivarstead wasn't far off. After laying out her bedroll out of sight behind a wild hedge-row. Nianna walked down to the stream and stripping out of her armor, stepped into the stream to wash the dust of travel away. The cool water felt refreshing on her naked body. As she finished bathing herself, she noticed voices conversing faintly in the distance. Immediately on the alert she got out of the stream and strapped her armor back on. Nianna carefully made her way towards the edge of the clearing, and noticed a lone imperial scout. Curious as to what he was doing here, she tried to sneak closer to him. A twig cracked beneath her boot and she inwardly cursed her mistake. The Imperial Scout immediately whirled around upon hearing a disturbance pulling out a pair of steel daggers he charged at Nianna. However he was easily side-stepped and Nianna cut him down lunging at him and impaling him on both of her scimitars lifting him off the ground before slamming his corpse back down. Satisfied by the quick clean fight, Nianna grinned thinking aloud "Poor sod never had a chance." Bending down to see if he had anything of value on him, Nianna heard the sound of more Imperial soldiers behind her too late. She was clubbed in the back of the head and fell down knocked out.

Several hours later. Nianna awoke, her head throbbing and her hands bound by ropes, her vision was initially rather blurry as though she'd sustained a concussion. She realized all of her gear had been confiscated by someone, all she had left was the ragged tunic she had worn beneath her armor. Looking around she saw she was in the back of a prisoner transport wagon with three others. A young well built Nord man with shoulder length blonde hair stubble lining his jaw and bright blue eyes looked at her with interest. "Good you're finally awake, you walked right into that imperial Ambush same as us and that thief over there." Nianna looked over at her fellow captives, one was a rather undersized Redhead Nord male, with shifty eyes. The other man was a bit older but as well built as the first man, this man however had an air of nobility despite being gagged. "The names Ralof, by the way." The first man continued. At this the redhead shifty eyed Nord spoke up. "Damn you Stormcloaks, Skyrim was fine until you came along Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could have stolen a horse and been halfway to Hammerfell by now." Nianna's curiosity perked up at the mention of her homeland. Turning her head to adress the redhead Nord. "Even if you had stolen the Horse, you wouldn't have gotten very far with it in Hammerfell. Horses can't stand the heat of the Alik'r dessert for long." Thief though non-plussed revealed that his name was Lokir, and then looking to Ralof, inquired, "Any idea where they are taking us?" Ralof looked mournful. "I don't know where we are going but Sovengarde awaits." Nianna found herself thinking the irony of the situation she now found herself in. She had fled Cyrodiil to escape possible execution, and now she found herself captive along with a number of prisoners of war, doubtlessly being transported to the Headsmans Block. Nianna turned to her fellow prisoners and said in a no-nonsense tone "If anyones got any bright ideas to get us out of this mess, nows the time for em." By now Lokir was in a right state of panic, glancing to the sky he recited "Sheor, Dibella, Akatosh, Kynereth, Divines please help us." Ralof sniffed in disgust at Lokir's antics. "Face your death with some courage thief." Upon seeing they had ended up in Helgen, Ralof remarked about knowing a girl here, and wondering whether or not Vilod was still making Mead mixed with Juniper berries. Nianna then saw a man she had known from Cyrodiil, on horseback in conversation with a High Elven man, probably a Thalmor soldier. Following Nianna's irritated gaze, Ralof looked at the man talking to the elf, and spat out "Aye, General Tullies, the military govenor. Looks like the Thalmor are with him, damned Elves, I'll bet they had something to do with this." Nianna understood all too well the hard look burning in Ralof's eyes and heard all too clearly the hatred in his voice. "Hammerfell had been the same way Skyrim is now." Hearing her voice, snapped Ralof out of his thoughts, and he nodded his agreement with Nianna's remark. The wagon came to a stop outside Helgen Keep, and climbing out of the wagon, Ralof looked to Nianna with an almost amused expression on his face "Lets go, shouldn't keep the gods waiting." A female Imperial voice called out officiously, and Nianna guessed her to be the Captain in charge of the group. Standing behind the gagged man who Ralof had said to be Ulfric Stormcloak himself, Nianna waited. The Imperial Captain called out the names of each prisoner, of course the cowardly thief tried making a run for it. Though he was cut down by a dozen arrows before he had gone 20 paces, Nianna couldn't help but laugh at the pathetic bid for freedom. Ralof and Ulfric walked to the circle in front of the headsmans block with the rest of the captives, and a young Nord man wearing light weight Imperial armor was reading over the list of prioners. Looking up from his list he saw Nianna, and puzzled inquired as to her identity. The beautiful Redgaurd mercenary, saw little point in lying to him. The young Imperial soldier (though a Nord) looked to the Captain. "What do we do Captain? Nianna isn't on our list." The Captain thought a moment then dismissed the point stating "To Hell with the list, Hadvar, she was captured shortly after she killed one of our scouts last night. She can join the rebels at the chopping block." Hadvar looked solemn, and apologetic, averting his gaze from Nianna, "I'm sorry, I'll make sure your remains are returned to Hammerfell." Nianna merely rolled her eyes knowing it was pointless to state that she had only acted in self defense, and walked over to join the other prisoners.


End file.
